John Glidden

Staff writer

Recent articles

Politics

A packed agenda awaits the Vallejo City Council Tuesday night.Included are four separate requests from council members and the mayor seeking to add items to future agendas.Vice Mayor Robert McConnell is asking approval to agendize a discussion about changing the city council elections from at-large or citywide to district elections. He is further requesting a future discussion about amending the council’s compensation.McConnell originally sought approval during...

News

At the sum of $35,000, the city of Vallejo has hired an independent auditor to complete a forensic review of certain city contracts to determine if a former employee engaged in additional fraud during his time supervising the landscape maintenance division.In August, Donald Burton, 51, pled guilty to a federal felony bribery charge after a three-month FBI investigation determined he offered a landscape contractor additional work with the city in exchange for a 10 percent...

News

Two weeks after directing staff to begin the process, the Vallejo City Council is expected to name assistant city manager Teri Killgore as the interim city manager on Tuesday.If approved, she would begin as interim on Nov. 11.The council met in closed session on Sept. 12 and directed City Hall to prepare Tuesday’s agenda item — formally naming her to the position.Under the terms, Killgore’s appointment will last until March 1, 2018 or until a...

Education

The Vallejo school board will spend up to $50,000 to prepare the district for a possible run at a school bond in 2018.A cadre of parents, educators, and community members attended the school board meeting Wednesday night recommending the trustees support the move, which includes working with bond counsel and district financial analysts, and advertising a Request for Qualifications (RFP) for qualified bond polling/information services, and communications/strategy consultants.In...

Education

The two Vallejo school board trustees who opposed the removal of Ramona Bishop as district superintendent last March expressed dismay Wednesday night over news she is seeking to open a charter school in Vallejo.Board Vice President Burky Worel didn’t hold back as he questioned Bishop’s motives.“With her doing this, it’s one of two things: She is either very deceitful and lied to this district for six years, or she just has a grudge against this...

Crime

An adult male was shot and killed in Vallejo on Thursday, police said.At about 1:12 p.m., Vallejo police received a report of a shooting on the 100 block of Westwood St., near Hogan Middle School. The victim was moved from the crime scene and dropped off in front of Medic Ambulance on the 500 block of Couch St., police added.Police found the man suffering from multiple gunshot wounds outside of the private business, and medical personnel treated the victim but he was...

News

As crews continued to film in downtown Vallejo for the new Transformers movie “Bumblebee” on Tuesday, Paramount Pictures officials met with local artist Alvaro Garcia to apologize for the recent removal of his mural painting.Almost two weeks ago, production crews, with the permission of the building owner, painted over the mural titled “Vallejo Rising” located on the west side of 401 Georgia St.The public response on social media was intense as...

Education

Almost two decades after he was unceremoniously removed as superintendent, Steve Goldstone will be honored by the Vallejo school board Wednesday night.The board of trustees is expected to approve a resolution thanking Goldstone for serving as interim superintendent of the Vallejo City Unified School District for the past five months.Goldstone was hired in April after trustees fired former superintendent Ramona Bishop without cause in March.“Dr. Goldstone will be...

Education

Former district superintendent Ramona Bishop sent a letter last week to the Vallejo school board announcing her plans to open a charter school in the district. In the short communication, Bishop gives notice that Elite Public Schools will be petitioning the Solano County Office of Education to operate a K-12 charter school within the Vallejo City Unified School District boundaries.“We have not identified a specific site, but will be submitting a Proposition 39 request to...

News

Representatives from Paramount Pictures stated Monday that a breakdown in communication is the cause for a well-known downtown Vallejo mural being painted over recently. Lorenzo di Bonaventura, one of the producers behind “Transformers Universe: Bumblebee” apologized for the mix-up which resulted in a mural, located on the west side of 401 Georgia St., to be destroyed as Paramount readied the downtown for filming.“I’m sorry about this,” Di...